Dear Tenyo Elite Team

Its time for you to release a new Tenyo Elite item. Your momentum is slowing down.

I propose you change your sales model.

Use Real Secrets as an example (people subscribed without knowing what they were going to get.)

Get people to subscribe to Tenyo Elite. Charge twice the price and commit to releasing one product every year. Your minimum subscription rate will ensure you break even and then you could sell the products to the public at a surcharge (more than the subscribers paid) to ensure you a profit.

Just a thought. Would anyone else support this subscription model?

Hi Pierredan, we are way ahead of you. Our company has been getting overhauled! And we are back into designing our next effect! We cannot say which one it is at this time, but we can tell you, that we think people will be very excited when they find out. I can tell you that it will be made of wood this time, a limited run, with much fewer made, and will be a thing of beauty, and more to what we had originally envisioned when we created this company. We listened to our fans, and we are very excited. We hope to have a finished prototype in our hands with in the next few months, at which point will determine production dates.

Tenyo Elite Team.

That is great to hear Peter... much better model on a go forward basis. Looking forward to hearing about this next item.

Charlie

You got us drooling Peter...

This is good news. The team has shown they can produce a great product and happy to see it is progressing.

John

If 'Tenyo Elite' had the first idea about marketing, they'd look at various feedback re: Tenyo items via websites, prices on ebaY, etc.

If this were the case, then 'Tenyo's Ultra Tube' would be released (even I'm it's original version) by the New Year.

However, I won't hold my breath.

I don't mind waiting. I'm betting that Peter Loughran is putting just as much care into this side venture as he does into his successful illusion business. Better to wait and have it right, than get it sooner and be disappointed.

My guess: Match-Sticks.

That's actually a very good trick.

Not sure how popular it would be though. There have been countless posts with people's preferred Tenyo items, but I don't ever remember this one being mentioned.

Just to add, my previous post may appear terse - it wasn't meant to be. It's just that second-hand Ultra Tube's appear to go for a small fortune on ebaY UK. There's obviously a market for this trick should it ever be re-released.

Remaking Match-Sticks would be making the same mistake as Tenyo Elite did with their first two tricks: remaking a trick that was great quality to begin with in its original plastic Tenyo form and can be reproduced by someone who has some skill. For example, I know someone who is into pyrographics and is definately able to make great looking Match-Sticks out of wood. So no, please don't let it be Match-Sticks

I really hope Tenyo Elite focusses on an item which is discontinued and is mostly mechanical in it's working. Ultra Tube, Ultraslice, Tunnel Of Darkness, Space Towers, ... there are so many possibilities.

I agree 100% with Killertweety and what he says should be made by the Peter and the Elite team. I would have very little interest in a Match Stick Elite Item, but any of those that Killertweety list and you can bet I am buying and I would bet many others would buy as well.

Charlie

IT IS NOT MATCH STICKS!!

PS there are a lot of factors that go into selecting an item to do in Elite form. It is not as simple as just picking one we think people will like and build it. There are only certain Tenyo tricks we are allowed to make. The selection also has to be approved by Tenyo, and by the creator(s) involved, and also be able to be manufactured in an Elite material. The trick has to be of certain age, and price point or again we are not allowed to do it. It's not as simple as just picking a trick and going with it as everyone thinks it might be. There is so much behind the scenes and so many people involved, that if you really knew, your head would spin!

I can tell you that I believe most people will be very happy and some estatic with the selection, but most of all and first and foremost we must please and honor Tenyo. There will only be a few made, so we know also from a marketing stand point we will have no trouble selling the limited amount we produce. This is a completely different business approach. You will have to trust us.

P.

Peter, these insights are so helpful. I think a lot of Tenyo fanboys like myself fail to realize the complex business issues with re-inventing and re-releasing these products, complicated by the international protocol and law aspects involved. Thank you.

Comments seconded.

However, I think (could be wrong) that there's probably as much of a market for buying re-released, classic Tenyo items such as Ultra Tube, as there are for Elite Tenyo. Maybe, for your project to be really successful, it's a case of getting a happy medium between the two?

There must be quite a number of us that cut our magic teeth on Tenyo items in the 70's/80's that we either lost/sold/broke. Items such as Ultra Tube, Squeeze Play, Sandwich Platter, See-Thru Card, High Hats, etc. spring instantly to mind.

Maybe I'm wrong but these items would sell again EVEN if re-released in plastic (albeit higher grade/quality).

What do people think?

That's too bad. I would purchase a Tenyo Elite Match Sticks. Keep it in mind for next time.

Thanks for understanding Wizzard!
Merc, I agree 100% for example I see diabolicus go for well over $100 on eBay. But again, it's not always as simple as just picking a trick. There is a process that a trick must go through before we have permission to go ahead with production. And that is what primarily drives the force behind what we choose to do.

Pierre- I agree Match Sticks is a super effect. It fooled me when I saw it. It's also one of those effects that made out of wood would no longer appear to be a toy, but rather something a scientist or ESP researcher would use to test subjects on their abilities. And made of wood or metal, you certainly could tell a pretty believable story(patter) in your routine, that wasn't possible with the plastic version. However with that said, we are focusing on more challenging builds, and effects that are more popular to the collectors. But one day I'd live to do an elite version of match sticks, even if just for my own private collection.

This is also proof that we are obviously not going to be able to please everyone with our selections. Some people want this and that, and others what that and this. There is no way we can please everyone. No matter what we pick, someone will say..."oh you should have done this one instead" it's a losing battle in that regard, because everyone wants something different. So our focus is on picking ones we think will not only please our fans, but also the collectors and most of all Tenyo! After all this is not a project driven by profit, but rather a labor of love and in honor of Tenyo.

P.

Hmmm... made out of wood-I am hoping for Crystal Cleaver! My only feedback on producing small runs is please do not produce them in too few of numbers. Balance is important here as I want to make sure I can get one. I would love to have some of the older Magic Wagon runs, but I cannot get them anywhere! That's a perfect example of what happens when too few of an item is produced- many people who would like to buy it are left out.

Can you have pre-order sales to better gauge the interest? This way, anyone who wants one can get one before you scale-up production appropriately.

Good luck on the new item!
John

I agree.

You can't only make make 50 of them!

Allow a pre-order period to help you determine the minimum production run that will be produced.